My brother was playing World of Warcraft on his computer, running through some new level/location.  I noticed the game music as I walked by.

Joshua:  Wow…that’s pretty relaxing mood music for a computer game.

Nick:  Yeah…

Joshua:  It sounds…sounds like you’re inside Enya’s womb…

Nick:  Yeah…

30 in the Mirror May be Closer Than It Appears
So I’m 29 today (yesterday…it’s late).  I don’t feel panicky that this is the last year of my 20’s…I just feel vaguely obligated to be so.  I sometimes fear stagnation, of extinguishing.  But age, in and of itself…well…my freshman year of college, in my acting class, we had a make-up section and the final project was to make ourselves geriatric and I discovered one thing about myself that day…I’m  going to be one sexy-ass old man.

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone.

For my birthday, my Mom wove her pottery-wheel magic and whipped me up a batch of coffee mugs, drinking cups and house plant pots decorated in smiley-muerte skulls.  It’s the macabre and motherly love all swirled together in the primordial embrace of earthen ware.  It makes me smile like the skulls.

Novel Deadlines, Horror Anthologies, and Epic Teachings
The deadline for my completed draft of the White Wolf novel is now June 1st.  It’s getting close.  I still have most of it to write.  I’ll likely have to disappear, for the most part, until June.

Several Mondays ago, I met with a few Chicago writers and talked through the seeds of what will be a horror anthology…but with an interesting method and progression of story to story, author to author (I don’t know what details I can say just yet).  I’m pretty excited about it.  We’re creating a shared mythology and setting.  I’ve already read the rough draft of the first story and things are progressing from there.  Sometimes after June 1st, I’ll get started on my story.

On Friday, I visited my friend, Genenda, who teaches high school English, and talked to three of her classes about poetry, some of its history, mythology, how storytelling changes when working with a known mythos, and how epics tie into todays media.  The kids were pretty good, many of them interested, a few asking good questions about writing, and even one asked me about writing epic poetry.  To top it all off, I got to read a story and a poem and perform some improv acting at an open mic at the local coffee shop…all lubricated with three, pre-birthday double-whiskey’s and cokes.  And Sabra sang the coolest version of a Brittany Spears song that I’ve ever heard.

Book of Dead Thing Event

Another Book of Dead Things event is coming up, this Friday, May 2nd.

8:00 pm at Swing State (a hookah lounge/cafe/gallery)
19041 W. Grand Ave.
Lake Villa, IL

Some of the Twilight Tales crew (including myself) will be on hand to do some live readings from Book of Dead Things.